de Fer de la Baie de Somme" (Somme Bay Railway), which is now largely a tourist attraction. Running around the entire length of the bay, this railway connects Le Crotoy with Noyelles-sur-Mer, Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, and Cayeux-sur-Mer and the sands at Brighton Plage.Main line trains to Paris take about 2 hours and cost about 48Euro return for an adult. They run from the nearby (15 mins by car) station of Noyelles-sur-Mer, which is also a station on the "Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme" narrow gauge railway. The bay of the river Somme has interesting tides in that they are both fast and have a high rise and fall. At low tide it is possible to walk across the sand and mud flats from Le Crotoy to Saint-Valery-sur-Somme. Care needs to be taken as the tides come in very quickly. Occupations Fishing predominates, both for seafish and shellfish (mostly cockles and mussels) and from the coastal saltmarshes, samphire and sea-aster. Hunting and shooting, for both game and wildfowl provides food for locals and visitors alike. Sheep-rearing, on salty pastures, produces a unique flavour. The sheep of the Somme bay have been credited ‘appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC)’ . Personalities Le Crotoy has had lengthy visits from some famous figures of French history: Joan of Arc (who was imprisoned there), Jules Verne (who wrote 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea here), the perfumer Guerlain who has created in regard of the special shades of blue, purple, violet which cover bay at down his well-known perfume, "L'Heure Bleue ". Several painters as Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Signac, Pierre Risch, and the novelist Colette had also been charmed by Le Crotoy. Population See also Communes of the Somme department Réseau des Bains de Mer Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme References External links Picture postcards from times past Colette at Le Crotoy Site Web sur la commune de Le Crotoy Le Crotoy, its life and history Communes of Somme (department) Seaside resorts in France Picardy